Writing and Maintaining a Series

Right now, I am the proud writer of three different Paranormal Series. The first one, I'm sure you've heard me talk about before. It is the Westervelt Wolves series and I'm prouder than I can say to have published the first book Her Wolf: The Westervelt Wolves Book 1 with Liquid Silver Books.

I bet you've even, at this point, heard me talk about the second book Summer's Wolf: The Westervelt Wolves Book 2 which is releasing September 28th, 2009 from Liquid Silver Books. (Anyone interested in participating in a contest to win a Summer's Wolf t-shirt should go here.) But this is actually not a blog for self promotion today, all evidence to the contrary. Instead, what I'd like to talk about is writing a series and why I can't let my characters go, my interest in reading really well written series, and my frustration when I do devote myself to a series and I am hugely let down by the last book in the series.

In other words, I suppose, I have a lot to write about today.

All of this kind of goes back to how I found Paranormal Romance and what got me writing it in the first place. Ultimately, it came down to the amazingly talented Christine Feehan. Reading her books is like swimming in comfort food for me. I know that is not an actual metaphor. One cannot swim in comfort food. You eat it. Except you can't really eat Christine Feehan's book. They're too disturbing. Truly. But you can, if you let yourself, swim around in them for a long time.

We were on vacation in the caribbean. When I travel, before I had my Kindle, we always had to pack half a suitcase just to maintain my need to read, especially if we were mostly sitting on the beach. I would literally read 1-2 books a day before I had children. That's a whole other story...

So I'd finished all of my reading material and I was perusing the gift shop of our resort to see what they sold that I might want to read. They had a book sitting there by Christine Feehan. It said she was NY TImes Bestselling author and that this was a Carpathain novel. I had no idea what that meant but decided I didn't want to start reading her in the middle of a series. So when I got home from vacation, I looked her up, got the list of her novels and started reading the Dark series in order. The first one was Dark Prince.

I was hooked.

By the time I got to Gregori's book I was so in love with these characters they practically existed in my mind. (I obsessed with Gregori, hurt for him.) Boy did she write some dark themes. Book 1 was seriel killers, Book 2 was mental illness, Book 3 had a child getting kidnapped. She's not stopped. In the years since, she has filled my mind with unapologetic heroines who have suffered child abuse, rape, death, and illness. In a recent book, not the most recent, but a recent one, the heroine even attempts suicide during the book.

I thought wow. Look what she has managed to do because she is writing a series. The main characters change book by book but wow by maintaining the characters she can really say something. If she let each book just be a simple story of the characters in the story, she could never do that.

My critique partner is an amazing writer. I never would have sold a single book without her. And I drive her crazy. She thinks I am incapable of writing a stand alone story. In some ways she's right. I am incapable of writing a stand alone novel. Short stories are a different matter all together.

But when I'm reading Feehan or Nalini Singh or Laurell K. Hamilton or JR Ward or Sherrilyn Kenyon or Gena Showalter or Lora Leigh or TJ Killian or Patricia Briggs or most recently Pamela Palmer what they give you by exploring the same characters over and over is the opportunity to change and grow with them even if where they take you is sometimes very disturbing.

So back to my own recent journey into series writing. I wrote the first two books of Westervelt with very little difficulty. Her Wolf flowed into Summer's Wolf. Someone commented that I changed the perspective on Tristan from book 1 to book 2. Made sense to me, Book 1 we see Tristan from Ashlee's perspective. Book 2 is from her sister's. I would argue that anyone with a sibling knows we frequently see things very differently from them.

Then I got to book 3. It was Theo Kane's. I'd known that the second I wrote book 2, Theo had to have the next story. But Faith was not related to Ashlee and Summer and everything felt darker. It made me nervous. Was it okay to go this direction? I knew it was. Was I strong enough to do it? Wolf Reborn made me work hard. It tested me and challenged me. I hope I succeeded.

But what I've discovered is that every series has its own problems. Writing the second book in the Love Beyond Series has been hard. The main characters are not as in tune with each other as the ones in the first book had been. Like Wolf Reborn, it is making me push the series, challenge it, decide what it is I want it to say by the time I reach the end. What do I ultimately want to have happen at the end of the series?

I've only written the first book in my third series, First Dimension. I had never intended to write these books. It flowed out of me like it had a life of its own and when it was over, I could barely write anything else for a month.

As I become more and more pregnant, writing is becoming harder for me. I'm tired, its hard to get comfortable. I have strange pains. This is my third baby. I knew it was coming. So I downloaded a lot of old 'favorites' onto my Kindle and when I can do nothing else, I reread them. I don't have to think about plot, I know what is going to happen in these books. The entire Dark series resides on my Kindle right now.

Thats another thing about a series. You can always go back and journey with them again. They give you more than one book to do that with.

Best to all of you in your own love of reading and writing, if that's what you do. Do you have a favorite Paranormal Series? I'll always take the recommendations.

Also, next week, in anticipation of either having the baby or being really really really tired I have asked my cousin to blog for me. Stop by and say hello to him so we don't put him off blogging forever.

All the best

RR

Interview with Lee Morris-Editor in Chief of Eirelander Publishing

Hi, I am so honored today to have as my guest Lee Morris, the owner and editor-in-chief of Eirelander Publishing.  Lee, thank you so much for joining us here at Paranormal Romantics.

 

Thanks for having me.

 

Now, for the sake of honesty, I have to tell our readers that four out of the five authors here have contracted books with Eirelander Publishing.  My book, Love Beyond Time, comes out December 4^th.  Rae, J. Hali, and Sandi have also sold books to Lee, so we are all big fans.   All right, now that I’ve gotten out the disclosure, I can get going here. 

 

 

 

Lee, what I wanted to discuss with you today is about the publishing industry.  I think there is a lot about publishing that people don’t understand, even people who have been published don’t know the ‘ins and outs’ about what it actually takes to get a book from manuscript to published novel.  

 

Okay

 

So, let me start out by asking you when the idea started to blossom in your mind that you might like to start a small publishing/e-publishing house of your own? When did that happen?  Was there a catalyst? 

 

Eirelander was two years in the making, though it took a lot of soul searching on my part before I really went into formulating this company. It all started with my utter frustration with the lack of truly intriguing stories coming out of what I feel is the next generation of publishing. Eirelander is dedicated to a high level of quality that still showcases the author’s own voice and concept but delivers excellence you see coming from a mass market publishing house.

 

 

 

What was the first thing you did when you decided to pursue opening Eirelander as a reality and how, this is really just for my own curiosity, did you come up with the name? 

 

The first thing I did was talk to friends in the industry. This was more for my own self-assurance than anything else. Through the discussions I was able to pull together a great support staff including my senior editors, Zaynah Monodee and Natalie Owens. Both bring great talent to Eirelander. Our cover artist, Buffi BeCraft is an author in her own right and delivers excellent graphics to our authors. Our most recent member to join our staff is Pierre Roustan who handles Urban Fantasy/Sci-fi and Hard Fantasy. Each of them is an asset to Eirelander and all are extremely talented.

LOL to the name. The truth is I originally liked the name Ibernian. The fact was nobody knew what or where Ibernia was. Unfortunately, I also liked the name Dubliner, but that was already taken by a bar in downtown Washington DC. So after much consideration, I returned to the name of a starship I once penned about – the Eirelander. That became the name of the company.  By the way, it’s pronounced air- (as in what you breath) lander.

 

How have you seen writing change over the years and in what ways do you think Eirelander can bring some of what has changed or been lost? 

 

That’s the great thing about this industry; it’s rarely the same for long. I’ve seen the hayday of head hopping and the loss of the passive voice/adverbs/--ing verbs.  I’ve heard all the supposed rules and normally I went out of my way to break them.

 

The thing about Eirelander is I want a lot of what was old style with the set-up and enough back story to get the tale going but I like the new voices I keep seeing pop up. There are a lot of great writers out there who are outside the box, and I’d like to give them a chance to shine.

 

The one thing that seems to stumble some of the authors submitting to Eirelander is that a firm plot is required for all stories published by Eirelander Mainline and even the Heat Line. For the Heat Line gratuitous sex is frowned upon. We appreciate heat scenes that propel the plot forward but don’t read as filler. This is very old style in that all stories are focused on plot and character development.

 

Tell me about the process at Eirelander.  What happens when an author first submits a book and, let’s say for the sake of argument the book is accepted, what happens after that?  In other words, what is the path the book takes from contracting until publication? 

 

Eirelander has a straightforward contracting process. In our acceptance letter we’ll tell you what you should expect your editor to focus on. This may be character development, head hopping or a plot drop. I, personally, think this makes it easier on the author since they can make a determination of signing with us on editorial issues as well as our contract.

 

Also, in the letter of acceptance an author is assigned a tentative editor and given a tentative release date. From there the author can expect at least three full edits (based on the NY model of going from broad notes to detailed items) from their editor, a full copy edit and an errata. The fact is that at Eirelander your editor is as invested in a story as the author is.

 

I think, from my own experience, that most authors I speak with feel that they spend nearly 1/3 of their time in promotion of their novels.  Do you have advice for authors pursuing that important but obviously time-consuming process? 

 

Preparation. Preparation. Preparation. Promotion is about being on your game more than being behind the eight ball. If you have all your stop and drop excerpts ready, you’ll be better equipped to handle the daunting task.

 

At Eirelander we have a designated author preparation/promotion liaison. Her job is to set up certain dates for an author to promote her/his work so they aren’t totally lambasted by promotion. Our cover artist provides all authors with a banner to use for promotion. We try to ease the daunting task but we can’t do it all.

 

When you look at the literary market, how do you make the decision about what to put a call out for and what to say has saturated the marketplace? 

 

The market place is an ever changing landscape. It’s made up from what is selling, what has sold to its limit and the maybe that the story sitting on your screen might be the next best thing.

 

I never say a sub-genre has totally saturated the market. If I did that, Eirelander would be rejecting vampire stories left and right. There will always be readers for specific sub-genres.

 

Eirelander puts out calls based on what is missing in the market and readers’ request. Our open calls are a bit more detailed and off the map of what other publishers are looking for because there are defined holes in the market. This is where we focus our attention.

 

 

What are Eirelander’s current submission calls? 

 

We have three specific open calls but are currently open to any and all genres except non-fiction.

 

Unto Tomorrow. If you love Dr. Who or Sliders this is the line to write. It is a modern day traveler or a near modern day traveler who can go to anywhere from the future to a parallel dimension. It’s a fun call because the future is only limited by the author’s imagination.

 

Legacy 2150. This is our signature line of Hard Sci-Fi stories. Yep, that would be the hard side of Sci-Fi (think Asimov here). These stories don’t have to be romances but I think romance lets readers down on this aspect. This ain’t your watered down sci-fi or Star Trek on hormones. Focus on all the things that make a real Sci-Fi story intriguing and wow me.

 

Revenge is Sweet is our Heat Line’s special call. Ever been burned by love? Well, take it to the next level. These stories focus on getting over the hump and putting your character back in the saddle. These stories focus on character development and the arc which takes the ‘burn’ victim back to trusting in the often painful emotion of love. They should be either carnal or above on our heat level and include an HEA or an HEA for now.

 

 

If there was one thing you would let potential authors and readers know about Eirelander that you think they don’t, what would that be? 

 

Eirelander is dedicated to quality. We want everybody to be satisfied. Though we recognize that not every story is for every reader, we try our utmost to honor the relationship between publisher/author and author/reader.

 

We’ve tried to establish ourselves for publishing stories that take a reader by surprise. Multicultural Anglo-Indian, Dragons in disguise, Urban Fantasy mixed with a true thriller, unusual time travel with paranormals involved – this is what we adore. We look for unique plots or characterization. We want the best of what’s not done or what’s been spun. We ask our authors to give us intriguing stories that don’t necessarily fit the NY or common e-publishing/small press mold.

 

 

Okay, final question, and I ask this of everyone who I interview, since I know you are an author as well as a publisher, please, if you would, tell me about your Muse.  What is she like? 

 

Sadly, my muse went MIA years ago. I think she got tired of being stuck in the vacuum of outer space. The biggest thing to me about writing is the challenge. That comes from writing for as many years as I have. I want to take on myself and push the limits I’ve written before. Whether it’s a historical, multi-cultural, paranormal or bringing fanta-historical into romance makes little difference to me at this point. To me the proof is in the final product.

 

I’m a writer who will try anything at least once. As long as I have a brain in my head, I’ll be stretching my imagination.

 

Thank you so much for joining us here and doing this interview.

 

Thank you very much for having me. It’s been a joy.

 

 

Rebecca Royce

 

 

 

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

It really is.

 

Below is an example of what my day is like while I am waiting to hear back on a submission.

 

Rebecca wakes up in the morning and runs to the bathroom (Too much information?) I’m 30 weeks pregnant with our third child, what can I say?  The children get up and my amazing husband and I somehow tag team them into eating breakfast, getting dressed, and out the door so, at the moment (at least until the end of August) my older son can go to camp.  I come home and stick on my computer.

 

Okay, I’ll pause here and admit for the sake of admitting to anxiety that sometimes I get the computer on before this moment. Sometimes, I get it on when I first get up.  I cannot tell a lie. But let’s say it’s one of those days when I don’t and this is the point where it comes on.

 

I check my e-mail. If I’m lucky there is a note there from my amazing CP and some friends in addition to the bill reminders and the things some of the online stores think I should be buying from them.  I check my groups and I sigh.  Why the sigh, Rebecca, you might ask? 

 

Because I am waiting on submissions. 

 

Now, I can’t complain.  Not at all.  I just sent out the query letters.  It could be months until I hear and that would still be reasonable. 

 

But that doesn’t mean that I won’t check my e-mail another fifty times that day on the off chance that somehow the person reading the submissions read at lightening speed.

 

I can’t imagine being the editor in charge of deciding whose work gets signed and who’s doesn’t.  It would be rough for me and the acquisition editors I have worked with have been amazing.  So I don’t blame them when I’m sitting there hitting renew on the webbrowser and holding my breath. 

 

Its my own anxiety, I know that.  I had a writer advise me to just keep writing and forget about it. I assure you I am.  I have a work in progress moving right along and two more stewing in my brain.  I have other things I could be submitting.  But none of that is going to erase the need to keep checking that lingers in the side of my brain where I know I’m still waiting to hear. 

 

Is this just me? What do you do when you’re waiting?  

 

On another note, next Monday, August 3^rd, 2009 my first book will be released. It is called Her Wolf: The Westervelt Wolves Book 1.  Here is my amazing cover.

 

Liquid Silver Books took a chance on me when they signed me to my first contract last winter. I will be eternally grateful for the chance.  Now, I guess I get to wait to see what people think of my writing which I have to admit feels a little bit like opening my diary for the world to see. But that’s okay, it’s always been my dream. 

 

So we’ll need to see which I find harder: waiting on submissions or waiting to see what people think. 

 

Anyone out there with experience in this want to tell me which will be harder??

 

The Swine Flu is circling my house

The Swine Flu is circling my house…My youngest son has broken his arm in three places…It hasn’t stopped raining in weeks…and We’re Months Behind in Our renovation…And Yet I’m writing so I notice none of it**


**Before I start this let me say, my son is doing fine. (Well as fine as one does when one is 21 months old with two broken bones in his arm. He is not being neglected in any fashion. He has been taken to several doctors and is wearing a cast**


Sunday Morning before my youngest son broke his arm, we sat in my living room.
My Husband: Rebecca?
Pause.
Husband: Rebecca? Hon?
Pause.
Husband: Rebecca, are you listening to me.
Short answer: No.


Now please don’t take this to mean my husband is annoyed or ignored. While I’m sure he would prefer to have my full and undivided attention at all times, he knows how much I love and adore him and it’s not like at this point in our lives he is surprised I can get lost in my own head.
You see this is the problem with me when I’m writing. Nothing else exists besides what I see in my head and what I put down on paper. (Or these days type down in paper.) At that particular moment, my characters were falling from one dimension to another. No more on this, I don’t share my work before it’s contracted, I learned that one’s ideas can become someone else’s ideas out here in cyberspace. Not that I wasn’t thrilled to read Annie Nicholas excerpt yesterday. It was awesome, wasn’t it? Truthfully, I also don’t want to post anything that hasn’t been grammatically polished by a professional either. My friend Dodie loves to point the problems with the things I’ve written, after I’ve posted them. I think I’ve developed a complex. Love you Dodie.


Anyhow, I digress. When I’m writing, I am actually living in the world of my own invention. The characters are having the actual conversations that I write on paper, sitting, eating, or doing whatever it is that I’ve described them as doing. The real world ceases to exist for a little while. I can write almost anywhere and do this. The one place I can’t: airplanes, which is really a problem because I HATE to fly and if I could write on the plane, then I could forget where it was that I actually sat. But I think I’m in such a state of perpetual anxiety on the airplane nothing will help at that point.


I know this is not true for all writers. Some writers can’t write at home, some can’t write anywhere but at home. Some have to be in their ‘space’ where they won’t be disturbed or where they have written notes and made outlines. Not me. If no one was speaking to me, I could write in a bar filled with all my friends.


Do any of you have special writing places or can you write anywhere?


It’s kind of funny isn’t it, you could be sitting next to me in a coffee shop and you have no idea I’m actually not existing in the same room with you, but instead I’m off in some other dimension where the grass is actually orange.


And that’s the entire hint as to what I’m working on that you will get until I either dump it or sell it.


Best to all of you and please be careful this playground we call life this season. People do break bones.